So, compelled by Pete’s twerk videos, my own curiosity, and the spirit of my ancestors, I set out to explore what’s actually happening when people twerk, and whether or not I could plausibly overcome my knee injuries (and lack of rhythm) to embrace my inner ’Tia Thee Stallion.įor starters, I got official confirmation that knees aren’t the only star of the show here. Drag performers were doing dips, drops, and duckwalks before Pete and I were born. Additionally, knee-defying dance moves have long been the domain of black and Latinx queer culture. Twerking grew out of New Orleans bounce culture and has roots in Afro-diasporic religions, according to a 2015 paper by Elizabeth Pérez, Ph.D., assistant professor of religious studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and published in African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal.

(Her knees have been dubbed “ revolutionary” and spurred analyses of classic works of art.) It’s also important for me to note that just as Pete’s musical style exists within a tradition of black hip-hop performers, her dancing has a lineage as well. I’ve made peace with the fact that my entire dance repertoire begins with a body roll and ends with an awkward two-step, but as your humble Senior Health Editor, I’m still curious about the physiological mechanisms that allow Pete to drop low without falling or winding up in the hospital.īefore I go any further in this very pressing investigation, I want to make it clear that I know Pete is not the first person with an impressive twerk game, nor am I the first person to write about it.

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